O-rings are commonly used to accomplish fluid sealing between different and varied structural features and machines. O-ring seals are conventionally installed on the inside or the outside of a cylindrical part and may be applied directly to a surface, and are sometimes retained in a groove on the surface. Such installation and positioning of O-rings is a particular problem especially where large numbers of such applications must be performed for efficiency and economies of scale.
While installations of O-rings in low volume applications can be done by hand or with known application mechanisms, where large quantities of such O-rings must be applied these known methods and devices are economically undesirable.
Some known devices use pistons and sleeves to install internal O-rings. In one device an O-ring is forced down inside of a tube causing it to emerge from the tube coincident with an internal groove. Another known device pushes the O-ring off a sleeve using a chamfered ram whereby the ram pushes the O-ring into the face groove. A still further known device involves specific geometry to interface with the head of a nuclear pressure vessel in order to speed up the installation of metal O-rings in a face groove.
None of these known devices retrieve or engage an O-ring and install it in a single motion. None of these devices use concentric pistons with an adjustable stop knob as will be discussed in further detail below. The ability to engage and apply an O-ring from a horizontal, flat condition and applying the O-ring in a single linear motion is not only critical to speeding up the application of the O-rings into the O-ring grooves, but also allows the use of many types of automatic O-ring feeders to be used in conjunction with the insertion device. Thus, such a process not only speeds up the O-ring application process but provides substantial manufacturing flexibility.